National Preparedness Month 2026: A Look at Sands’ Support for Americares Global Readiness and Response Efforts

One of Sands’ primary efforts to address emergency preparedness and response, which the United States is currently highlighting for National Preparedness Month in September, is the company’s partnership with Americares. July marked the completion of Sands’ sixth year of support for the global health and disaster relief organization and closed out year one of the current 2025-2027 engagement.

The Sands Cares contribution to Americares encompasses two focus areas: investment in the organization’s Asia-Pacific emergency response hub, which Sands has supported since 2020, and membership in Americares Rapid Impact and Support for Emergencies (RISE) program. This initiative provides the organization with a reliable stream of flexible funding to maintain a constant state of readiness and launch robust responses to natural disasters and humanitarian crises.

“Sands is a steadfast and reliable partner, supporting our readiness to quickly mobilize emergency response teams that restore access to health services in times of crisis,” Provash Budden, Americares deputy senior vice president of emergency programs, said. “With Sands’ support we’ve grown our roster of trained responders to include over 850 medical professionals and technical experts from more than 50 countries and provided ongoing training and development opportunities.”

RISE Accomplishments

Sands’ contribution to RISE supports the Americares Global Readiness Team, which strengthens organizational preparedness to respond to emergencies worldwide.

From July 2025-June 2026, RISE member funding enabled Americares to respond to over 30 global humanitarian emergencies such as flooding in Bangladesh, Colombia, Pakistan, Texas, and Hawaii; winter storm Fern in Tennessee; typhoons in the Philippines; Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; earthquakes in Afghanistan, the Philippines and Venezuela; and a cyclone in Indonesia, among others.

During this period, Americares also responded to Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and Haiti. As part of this effort, Americares deployed an emergency medical team to provide primary care services and mental health support to survivors in Chester Castle, Jamaica, and helped repair damaged health facilities.Ongoing training for emergency response roster members is another important capacity-building priority for Americares, and Sands’ RISE contribution supported Americares in hosting 26 virtual trainings and engagement sessions for 270 participants.

Also through resources from RISE, Americares replenished and pre-positioned medical equipment and response materials at its Global Distribution Center in Stamford, Connecticut, providing response teams with access to essential equipment before deployment and supporting faster assistance to communities affected by sudden emergencies.

Asia-Pacific Response Hub Efforts

With integrated resorts in Macao and Singapore, Sands has invested in Americares Philippines response hub since 2020 to promote emergency preparedness and empower crisis response in Southeast Asia. Over the years, Sands’ support has enabled Americares to build out the response hub and increase the number of trained emergency personnel available to support crisis situations.

Sands’ 2025-2026 investment in the Philippines response hub enabled Americares to recruit 43 global roster members from Southeast Asia, surpassing the original goal of 25 new members. New volunteers were trained on lifesaving practices and disaster response processes, strengthening the region’s response capability.

Sands’ funding also enabled Americares to host a three-day, in-person WHO-EMT Type-1 Mobile Training in Cebu, Philippines, for 92 participants from eight countries this past spring. The training covered logistics; warehouse and pharmacy operations; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) processes; mental health and psychosocial support; and an EMT field simulation.

In addition, Americares hosted a series of complementary trainings and engagement opportunities for Global Roster members, including onboarding sessions for new members and training in best practices for water, sanitation and hygiene processes, and mental health and psychosocial support.

Complementing regional recruitment and trainings, Americares pre-positioned emergency response supplies and mobile medical team equipment in Manila and Cebu. This investment built on the existing response capacity of the Philippines team, which regularly mobilizes for typhoons, floods, earthquakes, displacement and other emergencies.

Sands’ engagement with Americares is part of the company’s Sands Cares priority on hardship relief and complements local emergency preparedness and response initiatives conducted in the company’s regions.

To learn more about Sands’ focus on hardship relief, read the company’s latest ESG report: https://www.sands.com/resources/reports/.